On this episode of Close Reads, David chats with Dr. Ralph Wood, author of Flannery O'Connor and the Christ-Haunted South, about Flannery O'Connor's reputation for grimness. 

Topics include: When Dr. Wood heard O'Connor give a reading live in 1962, O'Connor's sense of humor, the scandalousness of the gospel in O'Connor's canon, Julian's mother in Everything That Rises Must Converge, A View of the Woods' lack of quality, and much, much more. 

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